Blood and Honor
by JustAnotherRandomWriter
Summary: WWII Assassins. Klaus, a German, and Alexi, a Russian, are assigned to work together in Nazi occupied towns and cities, freeing who they can and killing off officials while trying not to rose to much suspicion. But as their reputation in the Brotherhood grows, so does the reputation of their targets. Its almost the end of the war, only a few more to go. OcXOc, please R
1. Chapter 1

"Nyet! Nyet!" Cried the girl. Klaus looked around, but Alexi was already pulling the German into the cover of a wrecked building.

"What's going on?" Klaus hissed as they saw the girl of about fifteen being pulled out of a building by two soldiers, a desperate and pleading family following.

"You tell me, they're Germans." Alexi said darkly.

"Ah shiza." Swore Klaus as he watched the men throw the girl into a group of people, all varying in age, size, and gender. He recognized what they were doing now. "They're hunting."

"For what?" Alexi looked over at the taller man, his turn to ask.

"Jews." Klaus replied darkly. "See how most of those in the group are wearing the Star of David? They've been marked. The girl must either be suspected of being a Jew, or she angered the soldiers."

"What are they going to do with them?" Alexi frowned as he saw six of the soldiers lining as many civilians up along the wall.

"Shoot them." Alexi looked at Klaus in alarm, but the German Assassin was already out the door of the skeletal building, walking over to where the six soldiers had the six Jews lined up.

"Bereit!" Came the harsh German command. The six soldiers snapped to attention.

"German idiot." Muttered Alexi, running quickly after Klaus who was unobservantly making his way over to where the commanding officer, a Sergeant, was standing off to the right of the line.

"Ziel!" Klaus was behind the man now, tapping him on the shoulder as the soldiers raised their rifles, taking aim at the civilians. Some of the people were sobbing for mercy, while others stood stoic and silent.

"Was willst du?" Demanded the Sergeant angrily. Then there came a scream from one of the Jewish women, who saw Klaus yank the soldier forward onto his right hand as he unsheathed his hidden blade. The man fell off Klaus's reddened blade with a grunt, crashing into the snow covered cobblestones at the German Assassin's feet.

One of the soldiers, the first to notice Klaus's actions and to react, turned and took aim at Klaus. Before he could pull the trigger, however, Alexi brought up his left hand, flicking his wrist, and triggering his concealed pistol.

That was when all hell broke lose. The five remaining German soldiers turned now as well, joined by the four who had been watching the other prisoners. The nine of them were shouting in rapid German, facing the two Assassins as Alexi came to stand next to Klaus.

"Ever heard of subtlety and planning" Muttered Alexi.

"Sometimes there isn't time for those." Klaus replied evenly, eyeing the rifle barrels facing them.

"Toten!" Shouted one soldier, and they fired.

Alexi was the first to duck, dropping low as Klaus dove out of the line of fire. Rolling forward, the Russian came up directly in front of a soldier, grabbing the barrel of the rifle and jerking it up sharply, slamming it into the soldier's face and knocking him out and down.

Klaus got to his feet, a pistol in hand and fired once, dropping one man before running up to the third and giving him no time to think before snapping his neck. The remaining sic began backing up, reloading and firing as they did. But Alexi had gotten behind them while Klaus distracted them, killing two before being forced to avoid redirected bullets.

Klaus stabbed another with his wrist blade, jerking the already dead man's arm up so he let go of the rifle in his hands. Catching it, Klaus with drew his knife, turning and bringing the barrel of the gun around with a crack into the skull of another. He turned, gripping the gun properly, then fired it at the second to last German as Alexi ran at the last one. The man pulled out a pistol, firing at the Russian but missing as Alexi ducked, grabbed his wrist, and forced the gun skyward before pressing the tip of his concealed gun into the man's stomach and firing only once.

There was a stunned silence that hung over the town square as the last man fell. Klaus and Alexi stood in the center of a ring of bodies, the civilians and captives staring.

"Well?" demanded Alexi of them. "Don't just stand there, run!"

Immediately there was a burst of activity and noise as the townspeople ran inside their war ravage homes and the Jews scattered until the town square was empty but for the Assassins.

"Well, that wasn't too bad." Klaus grimaced, dropping the rifle and turning to walk away from the dead man. But Alexi stopped him, turning him back around sharply.

"Can you think?" Demanded the Russian. "Or is there just empty space up there?"

"Don't touch me." Snapped Klaus suddenly, yanking his arm free. "And Im sorry I went ahead and saved your fellow people from a Nazi given death. Next time I'll let them die."

"What kind of Assassin are you? Our trade is an art, not a demonstration. We kill when we must, never on impulse." Spat Alexi.

"So saving over a dozen people is not a must kill situation?" Snorted Klaus. "They are your own people!"

"And they were yours!" Alexi snarled, pointing to the dead Germans. "But you didn't hesitate to kill them!" Alexi snapped,

"You know why? Because this is war. This is war and people do die in war. We can't help that; there will be casualties, unless we end it."

"I see." Klaus said coldly. "So our job is to stand by and watch innocents die behind that petty excuse, claiming our blades are destined for higher blood. You may choose to live by that, but I will not." Then he turned away, walking out of the town square to the wall they had first come over, scaling it easily and then dropping down on the other side.


	2. Chapter 2

Alexi scowled over at Klaus, who was sitting cross-legged on the floor of the shack and sharpening his knives. He had his long wool over coat flipped up at the collar to protect him from the blasting wind, pulling on the hooked hood of it as well as he turned away from the German to look out a shattered window at the windswept and desolate landscape.

"You know, they say that if you do that too much, your face will get stuck that way." Came the German's musings from behind him, along with the hiss of steel.

"Why do you care if I'm stuck scowling at you?" Alexi snapped his temper no better for the howling of the winds.

"I don't. But others might." Shrugged Klaus, getting to his feet. "Cheer up Kolechin, we saved lives today." As he spoke he sheathed his wrist blade, and clicked his concealed pistol to make sure it was loaded.

"Cheer up? Cheer up?" Seethed Alexi, whirling on him. "How am I supposed to cheer up when I am currently squatting in the ruins of my own cities? How am I supposed to cheer up when there's a war raging right over there," he pointed "And how am I supposed to cheer up when there's a German, who I'm supposed to hate, standing right in front of me that I can't kill?"

"It's not the race of the man that determines who we kill." Klaus said after a moment. His easy going manner had flown out the window, along with Alexi's patience. "It's the man himself. You would do well to remember that."

"And those soldiers? You went up and killed them all because they were all evil men who were going to kill innocents? Not because they were German?"

"That, there was no time to judge them." Klaus said shortly. "They had to die. And they had already chosen the darker path, the others had a chance at the light and we gave it to them."

"I can't believe you!" Alexi said, laughing hollowly. "Your supposed to be one of the nobler members of our Brotherhood, and yet in a moment you shed your own precious Arian-" he was cut off as Klaus slammed him against the wall, gripping him by the throat with one hand and the hidden blade pricking at his stomach.

"Do not compare me to them" He snarled in Alexi's face, his dark eyes flashing dangerously. "I am not like them." He let the words sink in, and then he shoved Alexi away from him and sheathed his blade. "Go to sleep. Tomorrow we are to enter France. There is a man there who is to die." Then he left the shack, intending to sleep elsewhere. Alexi watched as flurries of snow landed on the strong shoulders of the other man, Klaus's standard issued black overcoat standing out in stark comparison to the snow before he walked towards the ruins, where it blended with the charred beams and the heaps of ashes and rubble.

Shaking his head, Alexi turned away, picking up his knap sack, and following. Four eyes were better than two, and they could keep better watch if he came with him. He followed Klaus into the wreckage. The German Assassin was picking his way through the rubble nimbly, never touching the beams or the stones. The Russian did his best to copy him, and doing pretty well considering he was carrying the supplies that they both needed. Klaus never looked back once as he walked; stopping in what must be the ruins of a downstairs.

"This will do." He nodded. There was a half a stair case to his left, a burnt carpet on the floor, and rubble scattered over everything. There was an overhang made up of the roof and the floor of the second floor, and under here it was bare of any snow. Alexi nodded, dropping the sack in the overhang. Next he crouched by it, pulling the strings and untying it. He pulled out a bed roll, unraveling it and flipping onto his back onto it, crossing his arms and legs. After making sure Klaus was still there, and still awake, he closed his eyes, and let himself be dragged down into the blackness of sleep.

Klaus was standing in the remains of a door frame, arms folded and shoulders hunched against the wind as he looked out over the wreckage that had once been a small, decent town. Reduced to rubble by his supposed kin. He spat into the snow in disgust, damning those who led his homeland to the fires of hell and the blades of the Brotherhood as he did so. After a moment he reached into his pocket, pulling out the crumpled paper in it and unfolding it. On it was written one name in spidery black handwriting, seeming to burn through the pale paper.

Lieut-Col. Holtz. Klaus smirked, crumpled up the paper and putting it away, turning his dark eyes back onto the horizon.

"We are coming."

That dawn saw the two Assassins leaving the ruined village by way of two motorcycles they stole from a German motor pool. Klaus, knowing the way, had taken the lead and was currently racing down the dirt and mud road at a precarious speed. Alexi followed a few bike lengths behind him, keeping him in sight but not to close. Mud flew up from the tires as they road, splattering the snow on either side of the roads as well as themselves. But they didn't care; being clean didn't matter in these times.

Klaus occasionally checked the road signs they passed on their way, but didn't pay too much attention to them. They were heading to a town that would have a train. Once there, they could ditch the bikes and take the train the rest of the way to France. There, they would begin their hunt.

The wind that blasted them as they road was cold and icy, heralding a cold winter yet to come although only light snows lay on the ground about them. Alexi felt his nose turning red from the cold as he gripped the handles tighter, the roar of the engine muffling the wind in his ears as it blew his hood down. Leaning forward on his handles, he increased his speed to pull up alongside Klaus, and then slowly pass him. He smirked at Klaus, who raised an eyebrow at him, before returning to the driving.

Klaus watched as Alexi passed him, but he didn't worry. Alexi didn't know where to go, Klaus did. Klaus honked the horn after awhile, getting Alexi's attention. Alexi turned to look over his shoulder.

"This way." Called Klaus, turning his motorcycle to the left sharply and plowing across a field there, the grass snapping brittly under the rubber tires. Alexi was forced to stop his own and turn it before following Klaus off road. The German led the way through the field. As he did so, he reflected slightly on the events of the past few days.

He and Alexi had been assigned to one another by the Master Assassin, Master Modarelli, over a week ago. They worked semi well together, in the field at least. On the road they didn't talk much. It was the down time that was the worst. There was very little of that, but when there was it was often filled with arguing and tension. They had started off on the wrong foot when they first met, Alexi trying to kill Klaus for being a German before realizing who he was. Ever since then things hadn't been very smooth between them. Klaus decided that, if they were to work together for the duration of this war, then that would have to be fixed. But not now, right now there was a train to catch, and a man to kill.


End file.
